Acoustical baffling cove system



Oct. 8, 1968 v s. E SPlNOZA 3,

ACOUSTICAL BAFFLING COVE SYSTEM Filed March 27, 1967 INVENTOR. FLORENCE S. ESP/NOZA aid/4 Arron/v5) 1 United States Patent 3,404,498 ACOUSTICAL BAFFLING COVE SYSTEM Florence S. Espinoza, 1021 S. Patton Court Denver, Colo. 80219 Filed Mar. 27, 1967, Ser. No. 626,26

4 Claims. (Cl. 52-145) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method and apparatus for soundproofing the head space in drop ceiling construction, particularly in office buildings, barricades space above the room dividing walls with a V-shaped sound baffling cove for deflecting sounds passing through the ceiling back toward the room from which it comes, and provides a dead air space in the baflle, further dampening stray sounds. The V-shaped baffle is made of rigid sheet material and is held in position by wire lacing which wedges the sheet material at an angle between the upper surface of the drop ceiling and the lower surface of the building decking.

In one type of building construction the distance between decks of the building is substantially greater than the actual height of the rooms to be made in the building. A drop ceiling is suspended from a deck, leaving a head space between the drop ceiling and the deck. The

head space is used for running pipes, air ducts, wires and other types of lines. The construction permits variable placement of room dividers and provides substantial versatility in arrangement of the floor plan between decks. Such construction usually utilizes movable walls so that rooms may be arranged to a tenants specifications. The walls, of course, extend to the drop ceiling from the floor, which is the top surface of the deck. The drop ceiling usually is made only of a single layer of soundproofing material, such as acoustic tile or board; however, a substantial amount of noise penetrates the ceiling into the head space, where it is reflected back into adjacent rooms. This transmission of sound through the ceiling and head space into adjacent rooms is particularly noticeable with certain voices which are transmitted so that they may be plainly heard in the adjacent room. The transmission of voices is, of course, particularly annoying where the occupants of a room do not wish their conversations to be overheard. Extraneous voice sounds and other sounds are, at best, annoying under most conditions in which general business operates. The walls themselves are transmitters of sounds; however, most modern construction has reduced the problem considerably by using hollow walls with soundproofing material in the walls. The joints are caulked with fiberglass or the like to substantially reduce the noise transmission through the wall itself. Heretofore, however, there 'has been little success in baffling the sound which passes through the ceiling and is transmitted through the head space into adjacent rooms.

It is, therefore, an important object and advantage of the invention to provide soundproofing of the head space in drop ceiling construction by an acoustical bafiling cove system.

Another object of the invention is to provide a V- shaped baffle cove in the head space and above the dividing wall between adjacent rooms in. a building having a drop ceiling construction.

A further object of the invention is to provide a method of sound-proofing the head space in drop ceiling construction by reflecting sound back into the room from which it came and trapping sound in a dead air space provided between adjacent rooms.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a simplified method of construction of sound baffles in drop ceiling construction.

3,404,498 Patented Oct. 8, 1968 ice These and other objects and advantages of the invention may be readily ascertained by referring to the following description and appended illustrations in which:

FIG. 1 is a partial side elevational view of a baflie arrangement according to the invention mounted in a head space in drop ceiling construction;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a V-shaped baffle and the means for mounting the same; and

'FIG. 3 is on oblique view of an extended portion of V-shaped baflling for use in drop ceiling construction according to the invention.

In FIG. 1 a typical drop ceiling type construction is shown, wherein one deck 10 is spaced a substantial distance above a second deck 12. In the construction, the cement decking 10 is mounted, usually some 10 to 12 feet above the next lower decking 12, and the decks are held in place by means of columns, not shown, and outer walls, which are usually curtain walls, enclose the structure. A drop ceiling 18 is secured at a distance below the lower surface 10a of the deck 10, usually at a distance to give a room about an 8 foot ceiling, or at the height desired by the architect. In the construction illustrated, a plurality of hanger wires 14, which are embedded in the decking 10, extend from the lower surface 10a and provide means for supporting a plurality of rods 16 at a distance below the decking 10. The hanger wires are placed in the decking so as to hold the rods 16 parallel whereby ceiling tiles 18 may be held in conventional manner on the rods. In certain types of construction, tile support angles are secured from the rods in a rectangular pattern and rectangular ceiling tiles or panels merely rest along their edges on the angles and are easily removed by pushing upwardly. In this manner access to the crawl space is available from any position in a room. Furthermore, light fixtures of the same size as the tiles or panels may be readily moved from rectangle to rectangle where desired, making very convenient construction and great versatility. A dividing wall 20 extends from the top surface of the lower deck 12 to the ceiling tile 18. Such walls are conventionally permanent, semi-permanent, or movable, depending upon the construction. In any case, however, a head space S is formed between the ceiling tile 18 and the bottom of the deck 10. In this space air ducts, fluid pipes, electric lines and the like may be extended from room to room as desired.

A V-shaped baflle is mounted in the space S and generally above the wall 20. In the cross-section shown in FIG. 1, the V-shaped bafiie includes a side 22 and an opposed side 24 held together by means of a wire 26 which is laced through the material. The sheet material 22 and 24 is wider than the depth of the head space so that they may be wedged together with the legs of the V resting against the bottom 10a of the decking 10 and the apex of the V on the ceiling tile above the wall 20. An excellent material for forming the bafiling is drywall, plasterboard, or Sheetrock, which is a gypsum core having a paper backing on each side. The material is easy to work with and is readily available. The gypsum core, of course, provides solid material between the paper which reflects sound. Thus, sound emanating in a room A and passing through the ceiling tile 18 strikes the sheet material 22 and is reflected back toward the room A. In a similar manner room B sounds are reflected back toward room B. Between the two sheet materials is a dead air space D which further deadens sound which might penetrate the sheet material 22 and 24. The area between the angled sheet material, also, reflects sound away from the room below the ceiling, further deadening sound.

Once the framework support for the drop ceiling is in place, very little working space is provided for forming baflles in the head space. Thus, short panels of wallboard are used rather than long panels which might extend mostly across the length of the room. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the short panels are laced together by the Wire, forming long panels which ostensibly run the length of the Wall below the ceiling on which the baffle is resting. The overlapping short panels, shown in FIG. 2, include panel 22b which overlaps panel 22a and the two are held together by means of the wire 26. About a 2 to 3 inch overlap is provided between any two adjacent panels so as to produce an elongated barrier over and extending the length of the wall dividing a pair of rooms. Such a barrier is shown in FIG. 3 where the panels 24a through 2411, on one side, are mounted in overlapping positions, to form the elongated barrier panel. The panel 240! is butted up tight against a duct 28 and a short panel 30 is placed below the duct 28 and another panel 32 is mounted above the duct. The small panels 30 and 32 are secured ,to the panel 24d by means of wire ties 33 laced through suitable holes. An end panel 24a is mounted in abutting position to the duct 28. The small panels 30 and 32 are secured to the larger panels and are thus held in place. The wire lacing 26 may be a continuous piece of wire extending from one end to the other of the baffie, or it may be short pieces tied together or tied singly. The panels abutting any intruding duct, pipe or the like are most easily cut square, but such square panels leave openings around the particular intruding member. Glass fibers or other soundproofing material may be stuffed in the openings to complete the sound barrier around the duct. In a similar manner, when the panels are mounted on top of the ceiling having protruding framework parts, notches must be cut in the panel to accommodate such parts so that the panels rest flush on the ceiling. As shown in FIG. 2, a notch 23 is cut in the panel 22a and it is stuffed with glass fibers 27 to fill the opening. In a similar manner, panel 24 has a notch 25 cut therein and it is likewise stuffed with glass fibers 27 to fill the hole. Where other than glass fibers are used, the soundproofing material is preferably fireproof or fire resistant, for example, rock wool.

The tools useful for forming the barrier of the invention are quite simple, including a utility knife and a straight edge for scribing the wallboard so that it may be cut to proper size. As is conventional with the wallboard or drywall, the paper on one side is scored with a knife and the board may then be easily broken along the scribe line andthe knife used to cut the paper on the other side. Notches and holes are readily cut in the wallboard by means of a keyhole saw. Small holes for the lacing wire are readily punched through the wallboard by an ice pick, stylus or a similar tool. A ball of wire may be effectively used for lacing the wire through the short panels, holding them together in a long panel. In place of the drywall or wallboard, other types of materials, for example asbestos board, Masonite, or the like may be used for the bafiling. The baflling is preferably fireproof, and most building codes would require the use of fire-resistant material.

The bafile is readily installed with the simple tools described, and it may be readily removed and moved to a new location when the dividing wall is moved to a new location. The bafiling is generally not permanent, since the room dividing walls are not permanent, and moving the baflling is quite inexpensive. Y

While the invention has been illustrated by reference to a particular embodiment, there is no intent to limit the spirit or the scope to the particular embodiment so set forth except as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A sound baffling system for a construction which includes an upper deck and a drop ceiling disposed below said deck and suspended therefrom" whereby a space is formed between said upper deck and said drop ceiling, said bafiling system comprising a plurality of relatively short, rectangular panels, having having a Width greater than the height of said space, said panels being placed within said space in side by side position relative to each other with their edges overlapping, said panels forming a V- shaped bafile above a room dividing wall and generally coextensive therewith; said panels being wedged between the top side of the drop ceiling and the bottom side of the upper deck of the construction; saidpanels having notches around projections on said drop ceiling permitting said panel edges to lie flush on said ceiling; some of said panels abutting intruding conduits; soundproof stufling mounted in small openings in said panels around intruding conduits and projections passing through said small openings; and means for holding said panels in place.

2. A sound bafiling system according to claim 1 Wherein said panels are gypsum board.

3. A sound bafiling system according to claim 1 wherein said means for holding said panels is wire laced through the panels holding them in wedged position.

4. A sound baflling system according to claim 1 wherein said soundproof stufiing is glass fibers.

References Cited I UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,059,483 11/1936 Parsons 52484 2,229,064 1/1941 Finch 52-484 2,730,942 1/1956 Peterson 181-30 2,887,173 5/1959 Boschi 52-145 2,939,543 6/1960 Zingone 52 3,074,339 l/1963 Pennati 52-484 3,082,487 3/1963 Fowler 61 al. 52-145 3,111,188 11/1963 Rees etal." 181361 3,321,877 5/1967 Alexieif 52-484 FOREIGN PATENTS 2 686,565 5/1964 Canada. 1 1,177,311 9/1964 Germany FRANK L. ABBOTT, Primary Erd'miner. P. C. FAW, Assistant Examiner. 

